New Breakthrough Test Detects and Predicts COVID-19 Severity

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 16 Sep 2022

Image: CovGENE is a new genomic test that can detect and predict COVID-19 severity (Photo courtesy of AMPEL)

COVID19 is on pace to be the third-leading cause of death for the third straight year. Since 2020, it has trailed only heart disease and cancer, significantly reducing life expectancy. One of the current clinical challenges in treating COVID is the inability to predict whether a person who tests positive will develop a mild, moderate or severe case. Now, a simple, efficient and quick genomic blood test could be a game-changer in identifying patients who may experience a severe course of COVID and to provide decision support for the type of medical treatments that may be helpful.

AMPEL BioSolutions (Charlottesville, VA, USA) has made a breakthrough in precision and personalized medicine that can detect and predict the severity of COVID-19 in patients while also determining the best treatment options for each specific case. AMPEL's new genomic test, known as CovGENE, can be administered by drawing a patient's blood to quickly ascertain whether a COVID-19 patient will have a mild, moderate, or severe outcome. After a patient tests positive, the CovGENE blood test will help determine the type of treatment and medicine needed in order to reduce the chances of hospitalization or a medical emergency. The company's new approach, through a simple blood test, will ultimately accelerate the means of providing effective treatments to the right people at the right time and potentially stem the serious illness caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection that can lead to lung damage or death.

CovGENE, has been validated by a longitudinal study. In a careful analysis of patients admitted to the intensive care unit, CovGENE demonstrated remarkable precision with a greater than 90% rate of accuracy. CovGENE is becoming available at a crucial time as variants emerge across the globe and as we head into fall and winter, where we’ve experienced major spikes the last two years. CovGENE also holds promise in predicting long COVID, an elusive diagnosis the medical community is still trying to fully understand.

"Now that this unique approach has been validated, we look forward to its rapid development as a precision medicine tool that can improve the outcome of patients with COVID-19 and reduce the number of hospitalizations, especially the most vulnerable," said r. Peter Lipsky, AMPEL Chief Medical Officer, CEO and co-founder.

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AMPEL BioSolutions